H2O: Just Add An Alternative
by notKate
Summary: (Rewrite to H2O: Just Add Water - The Alternative) What if Cleo had been the one to lose her powers that night, instead of Charlotte? Would her friends have stuck by her side, or would they have ditched her? Would she ever get her powers back? Would Charlotte lose hers? Read to find out. Starts at the beginning of season 3.
1. Prologue

Prologue (alternative ending to 'Unfathomable')

**Cleo's POV**

I stepped out of the cloud of steam, Rikki and Emma following behind me.

"Don't get all steamed up," Rikki said to Charlotte.

"We're here to cool you down," Emma finished.

Emma and I used our powers to make a frozen ball of water and throw it at Charlotte. But she stopped it just in front of her. The fight was on. She threw it back at us, and we ducked just in time. It smashed to pieces against the walls of the cave.

"Did you really think you could beat me?" Charlotte asked, with a smile. She used her powers to make three tentacles of water.

I started to get nervous.

The tentacles twisted around us, making us walk backwards, just one step away from the moon pool. The full moon started to shine down into the cave.  
"It's time," Charlotte said, slyly.

She tried to attack us with the tentacles, but we were quicker than her. We managed to fend off two of the tentacles, and defeat them. We tried to get Charlotte with the last one, but we couldn't. She was stronger than us.

"Well, you may have destroyed two of my tentacles, but I can still use this last one to destroy one of you!" Charlotte exclaimed. "Who wants to be the one to lose their tail? How about you, Cleo?"

The others tried to get me out of the way, while I tried to think positively. If they could protect me, Charlotte wouldn't be able to attack me, and I was the one that she wanted to attack, she didn't mind so much about the others.

But, as Rikki and Emma tried to get me away from Charlotte, I slipped, and she took the opportunity. As the moon pool started to bubble, Charlotte used the remaining tentacle to grab me and drop me into the water. I screamed. It let go. I was falling… falling. I hit the water with a splash, and my tail appeared. For a moment, I thought it was okay, but then my tail turned back to legs. It was over. Charlotte had won, we had lost. Or, at least, I had lost.

Charlotte smirked as the moonlight faded, then walked away.


	2. Chapter 1 - Flashbacks

Chapter 1 – Flashbacks 

(_Italics _– flashback)

**Cleo's POV**

I stare out of the window of the café. It used to be the Juice Net, but now it's called Rikki's. Zane bought the place, as it closed down, and renamed it. He must really love Rikki. She's lucky to have someone like him. Unlike me. I must be the unluckiest girl on earth.

It's been 2 months since the incident with Charlotte, but I remember it like it was only last night. I can remember the exact words that Lewis, Emma, and Rikki said to me, after Charlotte had left.

_Charlotte smirked as the moonlight faded, then walked away._

_"Cleo!" Emma exclaimed, rushing over to me._

_The others followed her._

_"I'm sorry, guys," I whispered, staring at the water below me._

_"Sorry? For what?" Lewis asked._

_"Charlotte won and it's all my fault!" I exclaimed, with a pained expression as tears began to stream down my face. _

_Lewis hauled me out of the water, and Rikki dried me with her power. They all tried to comfort me. I was grateful for that, but it was still no use._

_"No Cleo, it's my fault," Lewis said. "If it wasn't for me, Charlotte would never have found out about your secret and wouldn't have even become a mermaid in the first place. I'm the one who should be sorry, not you." _

_"It's okay Cleo," Rikki said. "Lewis is right, it was his fault."_

_"Gee, thanks Rikki," Lewis said, sarcastically._

_"What Charlotte did is unforgivable," Emma said, angry now. "We'll never even talk to her again. Just because she's a mermaid, that doesn't mean we have to talk to her. And just because you're not anymore, it doesn't mean we won't talk to you."_

_With Emma's last sentence, realisation hit me hard. I would never be a mermaid again. No more swimming with the dolphins, or surfing without a board. No more drinking water from mid-air. I knew that nothing would ever be the same again. I cried even harder._

_We left, and Lewis kindly took Emma and Rikki back home in his boat with me so that I wouldn't feel left out, while they were swimming without me._

_When we got off the boat, we went our separate ways, but Lewis walked me home. Just outside of my house, he said "it'll be all alright Cleo," and leant in to kiss me. But before he had the chance, my dad opened the door and said "goodbye Lewis," in the way that he does (he still didn't approve of me having a boyfriend) and Lewis took that as a sign to leave.  
"Bye Mr. S" he said, and then he was gone. _

I think back to that time now, as I sit on a table by myself. I'm still staring out of the window, and I spot Lewis, Rikki and Emma outside of the café. I turn around to look at the entrance and, sure enough, they're all coming inside. I nearly call them over, but I remember we're not friends anymore, just in time. It all happened two days after Charlotte made me lose my powers. The day after it happened, we were fine. We talked, Emma and Rikki carefully avoiding the subject of mermaids, but we always talked about it, and it didn't feel right like that. I think that's what made them decide to change it all. They told me what they thought the day after that.

_"Cleo, I think we need to talk," Lewis said. I looked up, and I was about to smile and say sure, but the look on his face was enough to tell me that it wasn't something to smile about._

_"What is it?" I asked him. He didn't say anything. "Lewis?"_

_"Sorry Cleo. It's just… well… I think we should break up."_

_"What? Why? We only just got back together!"_

_I was exasperated!_

_"Well… I was talking to Emma and Rikki, and they thought it would be better this way. They wanted to talk to you to but I said I'd say it for them. Well, there's no easy way to do it, so I'll just say it. They don't want to be friends with you anymore."_

_I was horrified. What had I done?_

_"We discussed it all last night," Lewis continued. Great, now they were having secret meetings without me. "They thought it would be best if we didn't talk to each other anymore because you're not a mermaid anymore. We decided that you seemed too upset when we were with you yesterday. We–"_

_But I cut him off. It was my turn to speak._

_"Well I'm sick of hearing what you spoke about in your secret meetings. If you don't like me anymore, you don't have to make up lies, Lewis. If this is how you want it to be, then fine." I said, coldly, and walked off._

That was the last time I spoke to Lewis. I've not spoken to the others either, after that. Now, I look at them longingly. If I was brave enough, I would go right over to them and just talk to them. Talk to them like nothing had ever happened between us over the past few months. Then they would accept me again, and it would be just the same. But it's not the same. They still hate me. I didn't even do anything. Or, did I? I said it myself; it was entirely my fault what happened.

_"Charlotte won and it's all my fault!"_

I hear the words play in my head over and over again, until they get jumbled up.

It's all my fault, all my fault, all my fault, all my fault, my fault, my fault, my fault…

Then I snap out of the trance. I look back over to the others, and see Rikki staring at me. She blushes, and looks away, as do I.

With that, I stand up and leave, thinking all the way home.

Is it really my fault?

Is it really because of me that Charlotte won?

Is that why they hate me?

I spin the questions around in my head and add one more:

Why is my life so confusing?

**A/N: So this one's kinda short, but I'll try to make the next one longer. :)**

**-not Kate, Kat**


	3. Chapter 2 - New Girl

Chapter 2 – New Girl

**Bella's POV**

I walk along the beach, holding my shoes in my hands. I'm not really paying attention to the world, so I don't realise that someone's walking right behind me until they say my name.

"Bella!"

I turn around, and see the person who called me. Red hair, brown eyes, sly looking smile, sketch book in her hand… it's Charlotte. Charlotte Watsford, my cousin.

"Hi Charlotte!" I exclaim with a grin. "Long time, no see!"

"So," she begins, "how long are you staying here?"

"Well, my mum and dad want to try it out for a year and if they like it then we're staying and if they don't they've decided that I'm old enough to stay by myself now, so I might stay here without them!"

"Awesome!" Charlotte grins.

"Do you want to go get a juice?" I ask.

"Where?"

"Well, I've heard that there's a great café just up there," I point, "and that they make great juices!"

"Do you mean Rikki's?"

"Yeah, Rikki's."

"Rikki…" Charlotte says, thoughtfully, more to herself than me. "No, sorry, I can't right now. I have to go and help my mum with something. But I'll meet you there tomorrow, at lunchtime, maybe?"

"Sure," I say, and with that Charlotte runs off. There's something odd about the way she just said 'Rikki' like that, but I don't really think anything of it.

I walk along the beach for a bit longer, and then I sit down on the sand. I decide I'll go for a juice a bit later on, or maybe just have my first visit there tomorrow, with Charlotte.

Then I see a girl, about my age, with brown hair and quite tanned skin, sitting right by the sea. She flinches whenever the waves wash over her feet. It's only slight, and not too often, but it's enough for me to see.

I walk over to her.

"Hi," I say.

She looks up at me, and I can see hurt in her brown eyes.

"Hi," she says back. "Who are you?"

"Bella," I introduce myself.

"Cleo."

**Cleo's POV**

"Bella," the girl says.

"Cleo," I say. For a split second, I think she's going to ask to hang out with me, or something crazy like that.

But then she says, "I'm new to the Gold Coast."

Great. She's probably just asking for directions…

"Do you want to hang out?" she says.

I'm taken by surprise. I think about it for a second, then grin.  
"Sure," I say. "Where do you want to go?"

"The café?"

"Cool!"

Wow, someone actually seems to _like _me!

So we go to Rikki's café, and when we get there Rikki, Emma, and Lewis are still there. Charlotte's with them. It hurts to see them together, even though I've seen them with her before. It's just that they said they'd never talk to her again.

Bella looks at them, and she seems surprised.

"I'll just be a minute," she tells me, and walks over to them. She taps Charlotte, who turns around and smiles. They go and talk for a minute, and then Bella brings Charlotte over to me.

"Cleo, this is my cousin Charlotte. Charlotte, this is Cleo. I just met her on the beach."

"Oh, we've already met, Bella," Charlotte says, seemingly calm. "Haven't we, Cleo?" She smiles at me, slyly.

"Yes," I say. "Yes we have." And I walk off without another word.

**Bella's POV**

"Why did she do that?" I ask, confused. "And how do you know her?"

"Oh, we just kind of… have a bad history, y'know," Charlotte says.

"Right," I say. "So are you busy or not, anyway?"

"What? Oh right, sorry I said I was busy. I just needed to stop and talk to someone. I'm going now."

With that said, Charlotte walks off, and I frown slightly before leaving too.

I sit on the jetty for a while, and spot an island in the distance. I think it's called Mako Island. I'd love to get a closer look. I see a boy, about my age, about to go out on his boat. I walk down to him.

"Hi," I say. "I'm Bella. Where are you off to?"

"I'm Will," he replies, smiling. "I'm just going to that island out there, Mako is it?"

"Umm… I think so, but I 'm not really sure. I'm new here."

"Oh, cool, me too."

"I'd love to get a closer look at the island…"

"You can come with me if you want."

"No thanks, it's okay. I'd better be going anyway."

"Okay, well see you soon, I guess."

Will starts floating out on his boat and I watch him for a moment, before walking home, smiling all the way.

**A/N: By the way, Bella's not a mermaid in this. She might be soon though, maybe you could review to tell me whether you'd like her to be one or not. :P**

**-not Kate, Kat **


	4. Chapter 3 - The Bad Boy's Back

Chapter 3 – The Bad Boy's Back

**Rikki's POV**

I get to work about ten minutes early. I work in the café. Zane and I own it now. He bought the place when it closed down, renamed it, and he's the manager. I'm the assistant manager. Emma works here too.

I spot Charlotte's cousin. I want to see what she's like, so I walk over to her.

"You're Bella, right?" I ask her.

"Um… yeah… how did you know?" she says, probably thinking I'm strange. I guess I forgot to introduce myself properly.

"Oh, well you're Charlotte's cousin, and she's my… friend." I say 'friend' a bit hesitantly. She's not my friend, I _hate _her.

"It doesn't sound like you _want_ to be friends with her very much."

Now it's my turn to ask, "How do you know?"

"It's just the way you said 'friend' like that," she replies.

"Okay, you're right. I can't stand her."

"Why?"

"Well, my dad always says if I have nothing nice to say, then say nothing at all. So maybe I shouldn't tell you…"

She laughs. "You're funny. Oh, I forgot to ask, what's your name?"

"Rikki."

"Rikki like the café?"

"Yeah. My boyfriend, Zane, named it after me."

"Romantic."

"Romantic? Zane? Sorry, the words just don't fit together."

She laughs again.

"Well I'd better get to work."

"Okay. Well, it was nice to meet you Rikki. I'll probably see you soon.

"You too. See you."

I get up, and walk to the office. Zane's already there. He asks if I can take orders, so I go back to where everyone's sitting. There's loads of customers. I spot Emma coming in too.

"Hey Em," I say.

"Hey Rikki," she replies.

We both go around and take orders. I go to Bella first, who's still sitting there.

"Ready to order yet?" I ask.

"I'm waiting for Charlotte. She should be here any minute. Oh, there she is now," she says. I look over to the door and, sure enough, Charlotte's arrived.

She smiles at me. I fake a smile back.

I take their order, then go and make the drinks. When I give Bella hers she says thanks. Charlotte snatches hers out of my hand. You can tell she doesn't like me either. Bella's so much nicer.

After a few hours of working, I go back to the office.

He nods without looking up from his work.

"Don't I even get a hello?" I ask, pretending to be hurt.

"Hello," he says, still not looking up.

I roll my eyes, and smile.

"Well, I'm done for today. What do you say we get Em to hold down the fort while we go do something else?"

"Sorry, too busy. Maybe another day?"

"You always say that. Bye then."

I give Zane a little wave, but he still hasn't looked up. I smile to myself.

I ask Emma to meet me at the moon pool when she's done, then go to the beach. When no one's looking I dive into the water and swim to Mako.

**Zane's POV**

I sit in the office for a few minutes after Rikki's left, and when I decide she's safely away I get out my phone.

I tap out a quick message: Rikki's gone, meet me in the office.

I get a reply back instantly: Sure thing ;)

I wait for a few more minutes, then hear a knock on the door.

"Come in," I say.

A girl with beautiful blonde hair and blue eyes walks into my office.

"Bella," I say, smiling. "Glad you could make it."

I walk to the door and lock it, then Bella and I start kissing, and we end up doing a lot more than that. And it's not the first time…

**A/N: Ooh, the newly improved Zane has been replaced by bad boy Zane again. And why did Bella turn on Rikki after only just meeting her and being so nice to her before that? Read to find out. PS. Sorry it was short, I'm trying to make them longer but I can never think of anything to make it long enough. Hopefully the other chapters will get longer. ;) But hopefully the end of this one made up for it being so short. ;) R&R**

**-not Kate, Kat**


	5. Chapter 4 - A New Tail

Chapter 4 – A New Tail

**A/N: alexiswritesfanfcition, thanks for writing the first review ;) and thanks for liking my story and stuff :P Zikki lover, you obviously love Zikki so much that I can't not tell you that there'll be good news for you. So yeah, there'll be good news for you. ;) I've already planned out what will probably be your favourite chapter. :P Enjoy.**

**Bella's POV**

Zane. I've known him since I was thirteen. He came to Ireland, where I used to live, for a year. We met at school, and we were inseparable. I had a huge crush on him, and he seemed pretty keen on me too. When he went back to Australia, we kept in touch. We were always video messaging each other or just texting and emailing and things. When he started going out with Rikki, he told me, and I was a little upset. But one night, a few months ago, he came to visit me. He told me that I was the one he wanted to be with, not Rikki. My parents weren't home and we started kissing and… well let's just say I didn't plan on losing my virginity that night, but not all plans go to schedule.

Love is a complicated thing. I like Zane but I kinda like Will too. And I know I shouldn't be messing around with Zane. He has a girlfriend. Rikki. It's a shame, because Rikki's really nice.

Suddenly, a voice breaks into my thoughts.

"Bella? Hello?"

"Oh, sorry Charlotte," I say. Charlotte and I are at her house, doing homework. I've only been going to that school for a couple of weeks and I already have so much homework. It sucks.

"So I was saying, what do you think I should wear tonight?" she asks.

"What?" I say, distractedly.

"For my date with Lewis."

"Oh, right. You'll look good in anything. Just don't overdo the make-up."

"Right."

"Look, I'd better be going," I say. "Bye, have fun with Lewis."

I go to the beach and sit by the sea for a while, alone. I spot Rikki and her friend Emma. I'm about to go over to them and talk to them, but suddenly they jump into the water fully clothed. I frown. Then I see something unexpected. Two legs replaced by scaly orange tails flicking up out of the water. My eyes widen with shock. I stand up, back away a few steps, then turn around and run away. I don't know why but I can only think one thing. Mako.

**Will's POV**

I sit in my boat, ready to go to Mako. When I went there before, I found an underwater entrance to a cave. It was so cool. There was a hole in the top of the cave like a volcano, and a pool of water. I'm going back today because I wanted to go later in the night and see the moonlight shining down on the water. Suddenly, Bella runs over to me.

"Will, hey," she says, smiling. "Are you going to Mako?"

"Hi Bella," I reply. "Yeah, why?"

"Well, I'm coming with you."

"Okay then." I smile. She steps into the boat, and we head off in the direction of Mako.

**Emma's POV**

Rikki and I speed to Mako. When we get there, we have a friendly argument about who won the race.

"I so beat you," I say, smiling.

"Never," Rikki argues back, grinning.

"I beat you by a-" I start, before Rikki cuts me off.

"Wait. What was that?" Rikki whispers.

"What?" I whisper back.

"That noise, listen."

I keep quiet for a moment, then suddenly hear voices breaking into the silence.

Rikki and I stare at each other, wide eyed, before ducking under the water. We swim over to the back of the underwater entrance to the moon pool, and see Bella and Will. They must have come in through the land entrance.

We watch them, silently.

"Woah, this is so cool," Bella says.

"I know," Will replies. "I really wanted to see this place in the moonlight. It's a full moon tonight so it should be something special. I found an underwater entrance too."

As Will mentions the full moon, Rikki and I look at each other, remembering we have to leave because of it. Rikki puts a finger to her lips and we slowly go underwater. We swim away unseen, but I can't shake the feeling that something bad is going to happen.

**Bella's POV**

Now that I'm at Mako, I can't see anything so special about it. I mean, the cave's pretty cool, but maybe this wasn't the place where Emma and Rikki were headed to. I don't know why I even thought it was. Though I'm glad I came. Will and I have been in the cave for about a half hour now, waiting for nightfall. The full moon'll be passing over any minute now. I've taken off my shoes and I'm sitting with my feet in the water. Will's walking around.

Suddenly, I see a flash of silver starting to appear over the hole in the roof.

"Will," I say, pointing at the moon. He turns around and sees then comes and sits on the ground. As the moon passes over, something really weird happens. Some golden bubbles rise up from the water towards the moon.

"Woah…" I say, mesmerised.

"That was so cool," Will says, once the moon's passed.

"I know," I reply. "So yeah, we should be going now."

We leave, with smiles on our faces, and when I wake up in the morning, mine is still there.

I decide to have a nice relaxing bath because there's no school – fortunately. And the weirdest thing happens.

As soon as I touch the water, I feel a tingling sensation. Ten seconds later I find myself staring at something that used to be my legs.

Let's just say that Emma and Rikki aren't the only ones with those scaly orange tails…


	6. Chapter 5 - Eavesdroppers

Chapter 5 – Eavesdropper

**A/N: Mermaidh2o, don't worry, I couldn't bring myself to not make Cleo a mermaid again. :P I've already planned out the chapter where she becomes one again (sorry if I'm giving things away guys… I might do that sometimes). **

**Cleo's POV**

I jump into the school's swimming pool. I figured that I could put my swimming skills to use now that I had nothing to hide. So I switched back to swimming lessons.

Bella's sitting up on one of the chairs round the edge. I haven't seen her for a while. I smile at her. She smiles back.

By the end of the lesson I find that I can still hold my breath for a while. A good seven minutes. Less than before, but still. I can also swim pretty fast.

That was the last lesson of the day. I talk to Bella for a while.

"You're a really good swimmer Cleo," Bella says.

"Thanks," I reply, my cheeks flushing with colour at the compliment. "So why did you sit out?"

"Oh, I hate swimming. I'm switching for volleyball."

I nod. Bella and I talk for a while longer then she leaves.

Before going home, I walk along the beach. It's pretty empty for a change. I sit by a couple of rocks, hidden.

Suddenly, I hear voices behind the rocks. I peer over the top and see three girls – Emma, Rikki and Bella. I stay out of sight by the rocks. Without meaning to, I hear their whole conversation. When they're finished talking, I gasp at what I just heard. Perhaps a little too loudly because they start to walk around to my side of the rock, as if they've discovered that someone's here…

**Bella's POV**

"So, what did you want to tell us?" Emma asks.

I take a deep breath. This is it. I'm about to tell Rikki and Emma that I'm a mermaid.

"I… okay, well the other day I saw you two, down by the sea. I was about to walk over to you, when I saw you jump into the water. I thought it was weird because you were wearing normal clothes, and not dressed for swimming. And when I looked a little further… well I think you know what I saw. I know your secret."

I'm about to tell them the rest of the story, about me turning into a mermaid too, but I can tell by the shared look on their faces that they want to start talking, making up excuses maybe. I hold up my hands.

"Look, don't say anything yet, I'm not finished. Just, hear me out," I say. After a brief pause to make sure they're not going to interrupt, I continue. I tell them the whole story – how I thought of Mako when I saw their tails and how I asked Will if I could go there with him on his boat. How, when we got there, I slipped down this hole and Will came in after me, only to find an awesome little cave with a pool of water – the same one Will had found on his last visit. How we waited for the moon to pass over, and I dipped my feet in the water as it did. Then, when I woke up the next morning, I took a bath and found that I had my very own tail.

Both girls' eyes have widened as I told the story. Rikki opens her mouth to speak, but we suddenly hear a sharp intake of breath. My eyes widen too as I realise that someone must have been listening in!

I quietly put a finger to my lips, and tiptoe around to the other side of some tall rocks that we're standing by.

I exhale a sigh of relief when I see who's sitting on the other side of the rocks. Cleo. She doesn't know about mermaids but she's a friend – we can trust her.

"Cleo!" I say.

"Hi Bella…" replies.

"Did you just… umm… hear all of that?" I ask.

She nods.

"But I won't tell anyone."

"Really?"

"Definitely. Don't worry, your secret's safe with me."

"Well, if you blab then you're dead."

"I know."

"Okay then, good. Well, I'll talk to you later I guess."

I walk round to the other side of the rocks.

"Guys, don't worry, it's only Cleo. She won't tell," I say to Rikki and Emma.

They look at each other, kind of secretively, then nod in agreement.

"We… umm… have to go," Rikki says.

"Bye," says Emma.

They leave. I frown. I wonder what that was all about…

**Rikki's POV**

Emma and I grab a table at the café and start talking.

"So," Em starts. "What do you think about Bella being a mermaid then?"

"I don't know. We can trust her to keep the secret; if she exposed us she'd be exposing herself too. Should we tell her about Charlotte? And Cleo?" I ask.

"Well, we should definitely tell her about Charlotte being a mermaid, and vice versa. But I don't know about Cleo… Bella's not going to like it if we tell her that her cousin is evil and tried to take away all our powers, and threatened us to make us stop being friends with Cleo."

"Okay, so we tell about Charlotte, but not about Cleo?"

"Yep. At least until we can prove that Charlotte's evil."

"Well, I did already tell Bella that I don't really like Charlotte. But I didn't exactly mention the fact that she's practically an axe-wielding maniac."

With that, we stand up and leave, heading towards Mako.

**No POV**

So Emma and Rikki leave for Mako Island, whilst Cleo and Bella sit unnoticed on the table beside where they were, having heard every word they'd just said…


End file.
